A dynamic system (either natural or man-made) is a system whose response at any given time is a function of its input stimuli, its current state, and the current time. Such systems range from simple to highly complex systems. Physical dynamic systems include a falling body, the rotation of the earth, bio-mechanical systems (muscles, joints, etc.), bio-chemical systems (gene expression, protein pathways), weather and climate pattern systems, etc. Examples of man-made or engineered dynamic systems include: a bouncing ball, a spring with a mass tied on an end, automobiles, airplanes, control systems in major appliances, communication networks, audio signal processing, nuclear reactors, a stock market, and the like. It should further be noted that there can be different types of dynamic systems, including but not limited to textual, graphical, block diagram, data flow, time driven, event driven, and the like.
Dynamic systems often include a plurality of different forms of instrumentation, some of which provide the ability to monitor and/or measure different aspects of the dynamic system. The instrumentation that monitors and/or measures different aspects of the dynamic system receives a stream of data that corresponds to the aspect being monitored or measured.
In addition, professionals from diverse areas such as engineering, science, education, and economics build mathematical models of dynamic systems in order to better understand system behavior as it changes with the progression of time. The mathematical models aid in building “better” systems, where “better” may be defined in terms of a variety of performance measures such as quality, time-to-market, cost, speed, size, power consumption, robustness, etc. The mathematical models also aid in analyzing, debugging and repairing existing systems (be it the human body or the anti-lock braking system in a car). The models may also serve an educational purpose of educating others on the basic principles governing physical systems. The models and results are often used as a scientific communication medium between humans.
Powerful numeric computing methods and graphics let a user test ideas and explore alternatives through simulation. One such software application for technical computing is MATLAB®, which is provided by The Mathworks, Inc. of Natick, Mass.
Furthermore, engineers and scientists have utilized time-based block diagram models in numerous scientific areas such as Feedback Control Theory and Signal Processing to study, design, debug, and refine dynamic systems. Dynamic systems, which are characterized by the fact that their behaviors change over time, are representative of many real-world systems. Time-based block diagram modeling has become particularly attractive over the last few years with the advent of software packages such as Simulink® from The MathWorks, Inc. of Natick, Mass.
Block diagrams are a set of graphical connections between blocks to model the above-described dynamic systems. The individual blocks in a block diagram represent mathematical operations and output a result.
Both the numerical or text simulation packages and the block diagram simulation packages provide sophisticated software platforms with a rich suite of support tools that makes the analysis and design of dynamic systems efficient, methodical, and cost-effective.
A block diagram simulation environment, such as Simulink®, often consists of multiple display devices connected simultaneously to multiple signals, to monitor the progress of a simulation at various points of interest. Conventional block diagram environments often offer scope-type instrumentation blocks to be used in these situations, with each scope connected to a point of interest in the simulation. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the physical dynamic systems can likewise include instruments such as scopes to retrieve and display data from the dynamic system operation.
To coordinate an effective analysis of a complicated simulation, it is sometimes desirable to “pause” scopes to explore captured data, while the simulation continues to execute in the background. It is also sometimes desirable to completely “suspend” data collection by the scopes. It is further desirable to be able to synchronize the analysis of simultaneous signals by pausing or suspending data collection across multiple scopes at the same instant in time, to assess relationships between the data and signals at various points within the model.
In addition, there is often a need to set the parameters for data collection, manipulation, and review. There is also a need to provide a data collection, review, display, and/or manipulation system separate from the dynamic system that obtains data from the dynamic system